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My Must-Do Weekly Blog Tasks

by Megan

I’m excited to be participating yet again in this year’s Blogathon! Of course it seems like every day is a blogathon over here, but at least today other people are joining me! Today I’m going to share with you my “must-do” weekly blog tasks, and at the end you’ll find one of the mini challenges for the Blogathon. Read on to find out what I suggest for bloggers to do on a weekly basis.

If you missed my post on my “must-do” daily blog tasks, click through to read it! This post shows how I use my browser bookmarks bar to keep track of my tasks.

I hope that you will find this information useful, and that you will try the mini challenge at the bottom of the post, but keep in mind that only Blogathon participants (June 2014) are eligible for prizes. If you want to join, find the Blogathon details here!

Biannual Blogathon Bash

My Must-Do Weekly Blog Tasks

Weekly-Blog-Tasks

You probably have some obvious blogging tasks that you do on a daily basis, and some blogging tasks make sense to do on a monthly basis, but what should you be doing each week? Well here are some of my ideas, and hopefully you’ll find some of them useful!

Weekly Blogging Tasks

1. Backup your blog

Even better, get a security plugin that will backup your blog automatically each week and send you the file! I use All In One WP Security.

2. Respond to comments on your blog posts

Rather than responding here and there throughout the week, it will save you time if you focus on comments just once a week. You can go into your account and respond to comments one right after the other. Your blog community will grow if you take the time to respond to your readers. It will make them feel good and want to return to your blog and comment again!

3. Comment on other blogs

I rarely find time anymore to read my favorite blogs and comment, but it is so important. You have to show some love to get some love, and I’m sure you have people you want to support. Sunday afternoon might be a nice time to catch up on posts from the previous week. Personally, I try to catch up with my favorites on my tablet when I’m riding in the car.

4. Clean out your inbox

Ah, the dreaded email inbox. If you reserve an hour or two once a week to clearing out old emails and responding to important ones, you may possibly keep your sanity. I like to keep my inbox to under 100 emails, and I love it when I get it under 50! When it creeps above 200, I know it’s time to pop open a coke, get comfortable, and take time to clean it out!

I have a separate folder for all emails related to any campaigns I’m working on, so that all the important, time-sensitive information is in one place and doesn’t get lost among my other emails. When I finish a campaign, those emails get archived.

If you have more than one email account, consider combining them. I have several different email addresses, but they all forward to my personal gmail account, which allows me to have everything in one place, and I can then organize into folders if necessary.

5. Plan your posts for next week

Hopefully you are planning ahead more than 7 days, but even if you are, you should take a moment to see what you have coming up in the following week. I don’t usually post on the weekends, so Saturday is a good day for me to remind myself of which posts are going up in the next week. That way I can make sure I’m prepared with ideas, photos, and anything I need to buy ahead of time to help complete the post.

6. Add to your list of post ideas

You should be keeping a running list of post ideas, for days when you have nothing planned or have a touch of the writer’s block. Think about what people need to know from you. What are people in your niche searching for? Visit a forum in your niche and see what questions people are asking. Think of variations on your most popular posts. Consider posting about a trending topic.

7. Apply for blogging opportunities

Some companies send opportunities through their mailing lists, and others post their campaigns online, so you have to visit and see what is available. Don’t miss out on an opportunity that’s perfect for you because you didn’t set aside time to see what was out there! If you need some ideas for companies to work with, check out my Ultimate List of Blogger Networks!

8. Update old posts to link to newer posts

At the end of each week, look back through your posts. Did you link to any of your older posts (I hope so!)? Go back to those older posts and, if appropriate, link from the older post to the newer post that you just published. Interlinking related posts (especially when using keyword anchor text) will help you to rank higher in Google for the topics you are writing about.

9. Update/Promote an older post

While you’re back there in your archives, pick out a post that could use some sprucing up, and then fix it and promote it.

10. Spend some time on social media

Who am I kidding? We do this daily! But once a week give a little attention to your lesser-used social networks. Spent some time on StumbleUpon or Google Plus, sharing some of your posts and posts by others.

So what do you think? Did I miss something that is a “must-do” weekly blog task for you? Please share your ideas in the comments!

Your Mini Challenge

For the Blogathon participants, here is your mini challenge! You have two choices:

  1. Choose at least three of the activities above and do them today. Leave a comment letting me know what you did, and if you think you will continue to do it on a weekly basis. OR
  2. Get yourself organized so that your daily, weekly, monthly tasks are easy to do. Visit my Daily Blog Tasks post to see how I get organized via my bookmarks bar. Adopt my method, or create your own! Leave a comment telling me how you got organized.
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41 comments

Alecia K June 20, 2014 - 6:11am

Ok – so I created a bookmark folder for the things I need to check daily and weekly. I cleaned out my email box back 1 month (have several more to go because it’s out of control), and I planned out my posts for the next few weeks on my editorial calendar. :) I am hoping to get back to being much more organized this weekend – summer has really thrown me off!

Reply
June 2014 Biannual Blogathon Bash- Info - PinkMamas Place June 20, 2014 - 6:55am

[…] Get Organized With These Must-Do Blog Tasks […]

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Biannual Blogathon Bash June 2014 Kick-Off - Retha Groenewald June 20, 2014 - 7:23am

[…] Get Organized With These Must-Do Blog Tasks […]

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Julie JordanScott June 20, 2014 - 8:10am

I’m excited for your Mini-Challenge. Just ordered the spreadsheet and am crossing my fingers I can figure out how to use it! Back in the old days I got my articles published in ezines constantly. I was just thinking (yesterday!) I need to do this again. It is what built my coaching practice! Thanks for the kick in the pants!

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Shaping Up To Be A Mom June 21, 2014 - 11:26pm

Julie JordanScott, I’m glad you liked my mini challenge! Let me know if you have any questions!

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Lori H June 20, 2014 - 8:15am

Thank you for the mini-challenges here. So far I have taken time to comment on blogs for the ABC Blogging group I participate in; I cleaned out my email; and I have promoted an older post that I created a new pinnable image for.

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Heather June 20, 2014 - 9:03am

I have bookmarked this post so I can remember to go through. I am in the process of making a new F.L.Y. journal and will have a blog section where I can put my daily & weekly tasks … as well as my running blog post ideas. Right now my ideas are in a folder in my Email.

I have cleaned out my email and backed up my blog (completely). I have also done an editorial calendar. Still need to go through your ultimate list! Whew!! That is INSANE.

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Retha Groenewald June 20, 2014 - 1:16pm

Using the bookmarks bar for your daily tasks is one of the best ideas I’ve seen. That in itself will make my life soooo much easier.
I’ve added a folder on my bookmarks bar.

I’ve merged 3 blogs so I’m busy reorganizing my website. All 10 ideas are very relevant and important.
However, the 3 top tasks will be to
– Update older posts – check each post, update it, add relevant category
– Link to newer posts
– Planning my posts – I need to plan the posts to give readers regular type of posts without making it too complicated for me to keep up with
However, this task won’t be accomplished within in a week. I’ve been thinking whether I shouldn’t change all the posts from the merged blogs to draft. Then set a schedule of updating and then posting the post daily until all the older posts have been updated and categorized.

Thank you for this great challenge – it couldn’t have come at a better time.

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Naila Moon June 20, 2014 - 2:21pm

I backed up my blog on to another Tumblr blog, I cleaned out one of my emails that had 6000 emails ( OMG!!!),
and since I am commenting now, I have done the comments too.
Actually, I usually will do that and reply to my commenters too.

Great post and thanks!

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Leila June 20, 2014 - 11:37am

I have responded to comments on my blog. These are great tips – this would make a great printable to tack to my desk as a reminder to do every week. Please let me know if you do make it a printable as I would love to come back and snag it!

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Michelle Knopp June 20, 2014 - 12:08pm

There are so many “blogging advice” websites and posts out there, but I must admit, I hate most of them. 95% of the crap people (even the ones with huge followings) post is common sense.
Your weekly list is so practical. These are the tasks that I usually forget to complete or spend too much time on every day that other important tasks (like creating content) does not get done.
I’ll be back to share what I completed after actually doing this challenge today. I’m off to look at the daily checklist first.
THANKS!

Reply
Summer 2014 Blog a thon Bash | June 20, 2014 - 1:55pm

[…] hope to complete the Make a Blog Header, Present a user friendly blog layout, Get organizing with weekly task and the 7 key things your blog should have mini challenges. If I have the time there are several […]

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Jessa June 20, 2014 - 3:50pm

I love this!! I might have to participate. I’m having a huge time balancing everything.

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Hilary @ The RNY Life June 20, 2014 - 6:25pm

Just installed All In One WP Security, created a schedule of posts for the next week, promoted my posts on all my social media accounts and picked a day (Sunday) to return comments :)

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Dominique Goh June 20, 2014 - 11:05pm

I’ll try to do this this weekend.. will try to backup the blog, comment on more blogs and also update some older posts.

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Sage June 20, 2014 - 11:08pm

Great mini challenge! I responded to comments, spent time on social media, and worked on my inbox. I will most definitely be doing more of this. I need to create a blogging schedule.

Reply
Blogathon June 2014 Edition - The Knit Wit by Shair June 21, 2014 - 5:19am

[…] Get Organized With These Must-Do Blog Tasks […]

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April June 21, 2014 - 8:14am

I picked three tasks to do.
1. Clean out your inbox- I cleaned out the inboxes for all 3 of my blogs. over 1200 emails.!
2. Update/Promote older posts. I did another set of posts today. I am in a blogger group online that has an old post love thread so that has gotten me in a habit of going back to posts from 2013, 2012 and updating them and then repromoting them.
3. Social Media- I spend little time on Google+. I tried it and never got traffic from it. I posted a few posts today because I know it is good for Google even if it doesn’t bring in much traffic. I scheduled some fun tweets with Hootsuite. I also scheduled some fun FB photos for one of my pages.

I have my bookmark bar for all my blogging tasks in an organized way (affiliates, brands, blogging friends), except for Google+ and analytics because I have 2 gmails and my blogging stuff is with my old one and you can’t can’t change adsense. :( Which I hate since I don’t use the old email address because my laptop was stolen 2 years ago (though I don’t think anything has been affected).
I also have a spreadsheet for my social media promotion that I got off someone’s website.

I have a blogging notebook and LOVE Google Keep for keeping my to do lists in order since I can access it on any device.

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Leah Courtney June 21, 2014 - 9:30am

I’ve already had a daily and monthly checklist, so I added a weekly checklist. I have my checklists in Google Doc spreadsheets. I open the sheets each day and just leave them open on my task bar.
I did look through the list of blogging opportunities and am going to apply for some of those. I didn’t know about most of them!

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Michelle Knopp June 21, 2014 - 12:06pm

I installed the All in One WP Security plugin. Thanks for sharing this with us! I had no idea it existed.
I replied to all the comments over the last week.
I spent some time commenting on others’ blogs and got a chance to find some neat people.
I planned my posts for next week and added to my list of post ideas.
I applied to two more companies that connect bloggers and companies.
Really time consuming tasks that I really need to work on but can’t get to this weekend: clean out inbox, update old posts to link to newer posts.
Thanks. I bookmarked this page until I get a chance to create my own weekly & daily blog task lists.

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Tammy @ creativekkids June 21, 2014 - 12:39pm

I added the to do folder and put a bunch of my blogging links there! Thanks so much! I need to do a full back up again though!

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Ashley June 21, 2014 - 12:50pm

I LOVE your daily blog tasks! Done done and done. Now maybe I’ll be able to do what I want to do everyday instead of forgetting. Thanks for sharing!

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Audra June 21, 2014 - 2:31pm

I added a plugin for backups, replied to comments on my blog, and have been commenting on other blogs today. I need to work on a daily and weekly task list soon. :)

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Caroline June 22, 2014 - 5:34am

Great tips. Have bookmarked this for future reference & written down tasks in my planner
My three tasks I did today
1. Plan my posts for the coming week.
2. Cleaned out my inbox and scheduled some time to do replies tomorrow morning.
3. Picked 10 of my favourite blogs and commented on posts

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Kuleen June 22, 2014 - 11:04am

I created my own blog planner and had it bound at Office Depot. It has a place for blog ideas, a daily calendar where I can list my blog posts and check that I have shared them on social media, and there is a daily “to-do” list where I can mark off all sorts of social media tasks.

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Retha Groenewald June 22, 2014 - 12:11pm

I’m using folders on my bookmarks bar for daily tasks and also reminders of things todo.
I use my calendar to plan and schedule tasks for the month.

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Barb G June 22, 2014 - 11:13am

I really need this challenge. I did a back up since I’ve been making lots of changes this weekend. I responded to posts, wish I had more to respond to. I updated an old post and I added my recent post to my FB page. I plan on adding links to older posts.

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Crystal Green June 22, 2014 - 12:38pm

I’ve cleaned out all three inbox accounts I have.
I’ve planned out my blog posts for the upcoming week.
I’ve spent plenty of time on social media today.

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Elizabeth Towns June 22, 2014 - 5:55pm

I commented on other posts, even more than I regularly would; cleaned out my inbox; and applied for some blogging opportunities. I am going to do one more thing, which I believe will take more time: Update/Promote an Older Post. I haven’t ever done this, so I am off to meet that challenge now. Yes, I will keep this up because it is pretty much what my blogging schedule is now; however, you have some important elements I needed to add or refocus.

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Alison @ Horseshoes & Hand Grenades June 22, 2014 - 7:11pm

Today I did clean out my InBox, spent some time on Social Media and commented on some other blogs. I try to do all of these things regularly, but admittedly, I don’t get to all of them every day…at best I get a lot of them done on a weekly basis with the exception of social media which I do work on daily. Thanks for the tips…I do need to go and get a lot of these items done and get caught up!

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Create With Joy June 22, 2014 - 8:39pm

Thank you so much for hosting this challenge Meagan! I not only found this challenge helpful, but the cross-posts you shared as well, and have marked them for future referencing!

This was a big catch-up weekend for me! I worked on catching up on my blog comments and commenting on other blogs – catching up on e-mail and cleaning up my inbox – adding to my list of post ideas – applying for blogging opportunities – and spending time on social media.

I will be working on incorporating all of the ideas on your list into my regime – in one way or another – in the future! :-)

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Brooke Bumgardner June 22, 2014 - 9:06pm

Awesome tips! I will definitely be incorporating these into my blogging life. I did 1, 2, 3, 10 and a touch of 4 today lol.

Reply
Biannual Blogathon Bash Wrap Up June 2014 - Retha Groenewald June 23, 2014 - 2:14am

[…] Get Organized With These Must-Do Blog Tasks […]

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Pam Allen June 23, 2014 - 8:04am

Thank you so much for all this info- this is my weekly to do project this week. I need to get organized and weekly/daily tasks are NEEDED! I love your Daily Tips too. Cleaning up my email is #1 on my to do list. I really appreciate your help. Also update/promoting older posts- awesome idea. I’m also going to set up my Daily Tasks on my task bar!

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Chrissy Southern September 29, 2014 - 5:34pm

I love this post! I just found your blog through Pinterest and plan to continue to follow you. I never thought to put half of these in my weekly tasks but I plan to do all of them now. Thank you so much for sharing :)

Chrissy

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Megan September 29, 2014 - 6:09pm

You’re welcome! Glad you found me! :)

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Brooke March 17, 2015 - 3:52pm

I just got the all in one wp security plug-in, thanks for the tip :) Done and done.

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Chelsey @ A Mama's Smail September 25, 2015 - 4:39am

Hello! I found your site on Pintrest and love your recommendations. I think today I am going to plan out some blog posts for next week, as well and brain storm more posts and comment on other people’s blogs. Thanks for all the tips. I think I’ll have a look at some of your other posts now :)

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